Intel starts distributing open source LibreOffice

Intel has begun distributing the open source LibreOffice suite for Windows from SUSE via its AppUp Store - an online repository designed for Intel processor-based devices, particularly Ultrabooks.

The Microsoft Office alternative is available in a five-language version featuring English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. According to The Document Foundation, the suite features "smooth, silent installation flow" and "improved uninstallation cleanup".

"I have been using LibreOffice from day one for presentations at conferences and for data analysis," said Dawn Foster, open source community lead at Intel. "Our engineers have worked with the LibreOffice codebase to optimise it for Intel hardware. Adding it to the AppUpSM Center is an obvious extension, and will provide an exciting feature for all Ultrabook users."

Intel has also become a member of the The Document Foundation (TDF) Advisory Board, a body that provides advice and funding for the LibreOffice project.

"We welcome Intel to The Document Foundation, and look forward to working with them," said Dr. Gerald Pfeifer, senior director of product management at SUSE. "It's great to see Intel providing LibreOffice through an exciting new channel so that more and more users can experience LibreOffice on Windows, with access to our world class support, that can make organizations more productive while saving costs."

LibreOffice is the community-driven fork of OpenOffice.org, founded in 2010 under the stewardship of The Document Foundation, following Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems. LibreOffice and has a number of big names backing it, including Red Hat, Google, Novell and Canonical. The latest version, LibreOffice 3.5, was made available last week.